Prebiotic mannooligosaccharides (MOS) are small chains of mannose that are known to confer health benefits to the consumers. At present, commercial MOS are derived by the degradation of yeast cell-wall mannans. MOS are also synthesized by the physicochemical or enzymatic treatment of naturally occurring mannans. Recently, these oligomers are being explored for their role in the modulation of beneficial gut microbiota of animals and their possible usage as functional food ingredients in humans. Experimental evidences strongly point out that dietary MOS impart numerous health benefits, including antineoplastic, immunomodulatory, and hypolipidemic effects, indicating that they have immense potential as a functional food ingredient. In this article, we present up-to-date developments related to the production and applications of MOS. 

Advances in Prebiotic Mannooligosaccharides

The use of the fermented total mixed ration (FTMR) is a promising approach for the preservation of feedstuff, but the effect of FTMR on the between growth performance and ruminal microflora of lambs are still limited. This study aimed to assess the effects of different roughage types in the FTMR on growth performance and rumen microbiota of lambs. Forty-five six-month-old Small tail Han sheep × Ujumqin male lambs were randomly allocated into three groups (three pens per treatment and five lambs per pen) with the initial body weight (BW) of 28.50 ± 1.50 kg. The three treatments were as follows: the low oat percentages group (LO) contained 200 g/kg oat hay + 400 g/kg alfalfa hay, the medium oat percentages group (MO) contained 300 g/kg oat hay + 300 g/kg alfalfa hay, and the high oat percentages group (HO) contained 400 g/kg oat hay + 200 g/kg alfalfa hay. The result revealed that the dry matter intake and average daily gain were markedly (p < 0.05) higher in the MO treatment than in the LO and HO treatments, whereas no significant difference (p > 0.05) was found in the final body weight. There were no significant (p > 0.05) differences on the Shannon and Simpson index among the three treatments. The PCoA score plot illustrated the individual separation in the LO, MO, and HO treatments. At the phylum level, the presence of Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes belonging to the dominant phyla is widely described in rumen communities among the three treatments. The relative abundances of Prevotella, Fibrobacter, and Succinivibrio in the level of the genes were remarkably higher (p < 0.05) in MO treatment than that in LO and HO treatments, while the relative abundance of Sediminispirochaeta was remarkably higher (p < 0.05) in LO treatment than that in MO and HO treatments. These results indicated that the MO treatments could more effectively improve growth performance than the LO and HO treatments, and also revealed that the different forage types in diets reshaped the compositions and function of the rumen microbiota. Consequently, the findings presented in this study provide a reference for the application of FTMR in animal production and the understanding of the interaction between diet, animal performance, and ruminal microbiota.

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Effects of Replacing Alfalfa Hay with Oat Hay in Fermented Total Mixed Ration on Growth Performance and Rumen Microbiota in Lambs

Transition milk (TRM) is a rich source of bioactive components that promotes intestinal development and growth, and reduces the susceptibility to diarrhoea in calves. The objective of this study was to characterise the effects of replacing pasteurised waste milk (none-saleable milk containing antibiotic and/or drug residues) with pasteurised TRM for 3 wk on blood metabolites of dairy calves at 21 d of age. A total of 84 healthy newborn female Holstein calves was blocked by birth order and assigned randomly to four treatment groups with partial replacement of pasteurised waste milk by TRM (second milking after parturition) at 0 (0 L/day TRM + 6 L/day milk), 0.5 (0.5 L/day TRM + 5.5 L/day milk), 1 (1 L/day TRM + 5 L/day milk), or 2 L (2 L/day TRM + 4 L/day milk) for a 21-day period. Serum metabolome was determined by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry-based metabolomics analysis on a subset of 26 randomly selected individuals from calves fed pasteurised waste milk (CON, 6 L/d milk; n = 13) or TRM (2 L/d TRM + 4 L/d milk; n = 13) at 21 d of age. The identified metabolites (194 out of 265) were categorised according to chemical class and the number of metabolites per class in the serum, amongst which glycerophospholipids 16% (n = 43), fatty acyls 7% (n = 19), organic acids 7% (n = 18), organic heterocyclic compounds 5% (n = 13), benzenoids 5% (n = 12), sphingolipids 5% (n = 12), organic oxygen compounds 4% (n = 11), and nucleic acids 3% (n = 9), were the predominant types. Significant differences in metabolites were determined by the volcano plot. Applying the volcano plot, only two metabolites (ceramide and phosphatidylserine) were significantly different between CON and TRM. Overall, our results suggested that prolonged TRM feeding for 3 wk had little effect on the serum metabolome of the dairy calves. We speculate that the potential effects of feeding TRM for 3 wk compared with waste milk were spatially limited to affect the composition of the local gut microbial community and the growth or function of the intestinal epithelium, not allowing detection of the likely effects in the serum through a metabolomic approach. 

Effects of extended transition milk feeding on blood metabolites of female Holstein dairy calves at 3 weeks of age: a liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry-based metabolomics approach.

Introduction Wound healing is very important for the maintenance of immune barrier integrity, which has attracted wide attention in past 10 years. However, no studies on the regulation of cuproptosis in wound healing have been reported. Methods In this study, the skin injury model was constructed in Gnxi goats, and the function, regulatory network and hub genes of the skin before and after the injury were comprehensively analyzed by transcriptomics. Results The results showed that there were 1,438 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), genes up-regulated by 545 and genes down-regulated by 893, which were detected by comparing day 0 and day 5 posttraumatic skin. Based on GO-KEGG analysis, DEGs that were up-regulated tended to be enriched in lysosome, phagosome, and leukocyte transendothelial migration pathways, while down-regulated DEGs were significantly enriched in adrenergic signaling in cardiomyocytes and calcium signaling pathway. There were 166 overlapped genes (DE-CUGs) between DEGs and cuproptosis-related genes, with 72 up-regulated DE-CUGs and 94 down-regulated DE-CUGs. GOKEGG analysis showed that up-regulated DE-CUGs were significantly enriched in ferroptosis, leukocyte transendothelial migration and lysosome pathways, while down-regulated DE-CUGs were significantly enriched in Apelin signaling pathway and tyrosine metabolism pathways. By constructing and analyzing of protein–protein interaction (PPI) networks of DEGs and DE-CUGs, 10 hub DEGs (ENSCHIG00000020079, PLK1, AURKA, ASPM, CENPE, KIF20A, CCNB2, KIF2C, PRC1 and KIF4A) and 10 hub DE-CUGs (MMP2, TIMP1, MMP9, MMP14, TIMP3, MMP1, EDN1, GCAT, SARDH, and DCT) were obtained, respectively. Discussion This study revealed the hub genes and important wound healing pathways in Ganxi goats, and identified the correlation between wound healing and cuproptosis for the first time, and found that MMP2, TIMP1, MMP9, and EDN1 were the core genes associated. This study enriched the transcriptome data of wound healing in Ganxi goats and expanded the research direction of cuproptosis.

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Transcriptomic profiling identifies differentially expressed genes and related pathways associated with wound healing and cuproptosis-related genes in Ganxi goats

Dietary supplementation modified attapulgite promote intestinal epithelial barrier and regulate intestinal microbiota composition to prevent diarrhea in weaned piglets.

Successful establishment of passive immunity (PIT) and regulation of intestinal microbiota are crucial for ruminants to maintain body health and reduce the risk of disease during the neonatal period. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of mannan oligosaccharide (MOS) supplementation on passive transfer of immunoglobulin G (IgG), serum inflammatory cytokines and antioxidant levels as well as bacteria composition in the ileal digesta. A total of 14 healthy neonatal Ganxi black goats with similar birth weight (BW: 2.35 ± 0.55 kg) were selected and allocated into two groups, only fed colostrum and milk replacer (CON, n = 7) and supplemented MOS (0.06% of birth BW) in the colostrum and milk replacer (MOS, n = 7). The results indicated that MOS supplementation significantly reduced (p < 0.05) serum IgG level at 3 and 6 h after colostrum feeding. Serum GLP-1 level of goats in the MOS group was significantly lower (p = 0.001) than that in the CON group. Goats in the MOS group had higher serum CAT and lower MDA level than those in the CON group (p < 0.05). Serum anti-inflammatory cytokine level of interleukin 4 (IL-4) was increased (p < 0.05), while pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 level was reduced (p < 0.05) in the MOS group when compared with the CON group. In addition, MOS supplementation remarkably increased (p < 0.05) the level of secretory IgA (sIgA) in the ileal digesta. Principal coordinate analysis of 16S rRNA sequence based on Brinary jaccard, Bray curtis, and weighted UniFrac distance of ileal microbiota showed a distinct microbial differentiation between the CON and MOS groups (p < 0.05). The relative abundance of Firmicutes in the MOS group was higher than that in the CON group, while the abundance of Verrucomicrobia was lower in the MOS group than that in the CON group at the phylum level (p < 0.05). The relative abundance of Proteobacteria tended to decrease (p = 0.078) in the MOS group at the phylum level. The results of LEfSe analysis showed that MOS group was characterized by a higher relative abundance of Lactobacillus, while the CON group was represented by a higher relative abundance of Akkermansia and Ruminiclostridium_5. Our findings demonstrated that MOS supplementation during the neonatal period increases antioxidant capacity and reduces the inflammatory response, and promotes IgA secretion and Lactobacillus colonization in the ileum. Thus, MOS induced positive effects are more pronounced in neonatal goats that might be an effective approach to maintain intestinal health and improve the surviving rate of neonatal ruminants.

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Supplementing Mannan Oligosaccharide Reduces the Passive Transfer of Immunoglobulin G and Improves Antioxidative Capacity, Immunity, and Intestinal Microbiota in Neonatal Goats

Silybum marianum meal is a by-product that remains silymarin complex and is perceived as a potential-protein source. The potential and its mechanism of silybum marianum meal as a protein supplement in ruminants were evaluated by testing the growth performance, biochemical parameters, cytokine levels, gut transcriptome and microbial community profiles. Forty-two male Hulunbeier growing lambs (aged about 3-month-old; averaged body weight of 21.55 kg) were randomly divided into the CON (with 10% soybean meal) and SIL groups (with 10% silybum marianum meal). There was no significant difference in growth performance, feed intakes, or serum biochemical parameters between CON and SIL. The serum levels of IL-1β, TNF-α, TGF-β, HGF, and VEGF were all increased (p < 0.05) in the SIL group as compared with the CON group. Transcriptome gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed that the core genes in the rumen from SIL group were enriched with fructose and mannose metabolism, while the core genes in the ileum were enriched for three biological process, including digestive tract development, positive regulation of MAPK cascade, and regulation of I-kappaB kinase/NF-kappaB signaling. The 16S rDNA results showed that the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Synergistetes, and Verrucomicrobia in the rumen from SIL group was significantly higher than that in CON group (p < 0.05), whereas Proteobacteria was significantly lower than that in CON group (p < 0.05). The LEfSe analysis showed that the genera Pyramidobacter, Saccharofermentans, Anaerovibrio, Oscillibacter and Barnesiella were enriched in the rumen from SIL group, whereas Sharpea was enriched in the CON group (LDA > 2). In the ileum, there were no significant differences in the phylum-level classification of microbes observed. At the genus level, the relative abundances of Bifidobacterium and Ruminococcus in the ileum from SIL group were significantly higher than that in the CON group (p < 0.05), whereas the relative abundance of Clostridium_XI was lower (p < 0.05). Correlation analysis showed that Clostridium_XI was negatively correlated with VEGF, TGF-β, TNF-α and HGF (p < 0.05). Core genes BMP4 and CD4 were negatively correlated with Clostridium_XI (p < 0.05). Our results indicated that supplementing silybum marianum meal as a replacement for soybean meal resulted in increased cytokines production without affecting growth performance in growing lambs, and the enrichment of immune-related genes and altered microbial community in the ileum were contributed to the increased immune responses.

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An integrated transcriptome and microbial community analysis reveals potential mechanisms for increased immune responses when replacing silybum marianum meal with soybean meal in growing lambs

Background Protein malnutrition remains a severe problem in ruminant production and can increase susceptibility to infection, especially during the growth stage. This study aimed to explore substituting soybean meal with corn on activation of the TLR pathway and potential impact on immune response bias towards Type 1 or Type 2 using growing female goats as experimental animals. Methods Twenty-four Xiangdong black goats (initial BW = 19.83 ± 0.53 kg, about 8 ± 0.3 months old) were selected and randomly divided into the corn-soybean meal basal diet group (CON, 10.77% protein) and replacing soybean meal with 100% of corn group (CRS, 5.52% protein). EDTA whole blood and serum samples were collected prior to slaughter for determinations of blood cell counts, anti-inflammatory cytokines and antibodies. The duodenum, jejunum, ileum and colon tissues were collected after formal trial to study the effect of CRS diet on the expression of TLR4 pathway. Results Our results showed CRS diet did not induce a significant change in immune function, as evidenced by the observations that white blood cell (WBC), neutrophil (Neu), lymphocyte (Lym), monocyte (Mon), eosinophil (Eos), interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-5, IL-13, immunoglobin G (IgG), IgA, and IgM levels in serum were similar between the two groups. RT-PCR results showed the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (P < 0.01) and interferon-β (IFN-β) (P < 0.01) were up-regulated in the colon of goats in the CRS group. No differences in the expression of myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) adaptor-like protein (TIRAP), IL-1 receptor–associated kinase 1 (IRAK1), TNF receptor related factor 6 (TRAF6), NF-kappa B (NF-κB), mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (MAPK1) or activator protein-1 (AP-1) in the TLR4/MyD88 dependent pathway were observed between the two groups for any of the tested tissue. However, the expression of NF-κB activator (TANK) binding kinase 1 (TBK1) in TLR4/MyD88 independent pathway was up-regulated in the duodenum and colon (P < 0.01), and the expression of interferon regulatory factor-3 (IRF3) was up-regulated (P < 0.01) in colon. Conclusions Our results suggested that the CRS diet failed to induce a significant change in innate immunity and adaptive immunity in growing goats. However, the up-regulated TBK1 and IRF3 in the colon from the CRS goats suggests that the CRS diet may induce the expression of Th1-type proinflammatory cytokines and inflammatory response through a TLR4-MyD88-independent pathway, and the colon may be the easiest targeted section in the intestinal tract.

Chao Yang

Papers

Supplementing Mannan Oligosaccharide Reduces the Passive Transfer of Immunoglobulin G and Improves Antioxidative Capacity, Immunity, and Intestinal Microbiota in Neonatal Goats

An integrated transcriptome and microbial community analysis reveals potential mechanisms for increased immune responses when replacing silybum marianum meal with soybean meal in growing lambs

Effects of substituting soybean meal with corn on immune function and gene expression of gut TLR4 pathway of growing goats